No surprises expected at UN Security Council elections _ but wait for Ukraine to face Russia

UNITED NATIONS – There will be no surprises in Thursday's elections for new members of the Security Council but there will almost certainly be some fireworks when Ukraine joins the U.N.'s most powerful body — where arch opponent Russia has a permanent seat.

This year's election is uncontested — five candidates for five seats as non-permanent members.

The only requirement for the five candidates — Ukraine, Egypt, Japan, Senegal and Uruguay — is that they win approval from two-thirds of the U.N.'s 193 member states.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin says there will be nothing conciliatory when it comes to Russia, which annexed Crimea and has interfered militarily and politically in eastern Ukraine.

He said Ukraine is in an "unimaginable" situation in which a permanent council member is "waging a hybrid war against Ukraine."